The Guru and the Hasid

The stranger-than-fiction true story of Swami Vijayananda.

One sweltering day in the summer of 2008, near Hardwar, India, the pilgrimage city at the headwaters of the Ganges, an incongruous scene unfolded. Amidst the dhoti-clad men and sari-clad women, two Hasidic men from Israel, with long peyot and black kippahs, strode quickly through the crowded streets. When they reached their destination — the ashram of Anandamayi-ma, India’s most adulated woman saint of the 20th century — they hesitated at the entrance to the courtyard. Idolatrous statues dotted the courtyard. As religious Jews, they wondered whether they were permitted to enter.

Swami Vijayananda with devotees

Standing there, they saw the guru, Swami Vijayananda, garbed in the ochre robes of a monk, exit from one of the buildings. He took his seat on a stone bench in order to receive the long line of waiting devotees. One by one, they approached the 93-year-old guru, bowed on their knees, and took the dust of his feet — a Hindu gesture of honor, whereby one touches the guru’s feet with one’s hand, and then one’s own forehead. Each devotee had barely a minute of the guru’s attention to ask or utter a few words. Then, still kneeling, the devotee found a place on the ground some distance away to continue to bask in the presence of the guru.

The two Hasidic men were Eliezer Botzer and his friend Natti, heads of the Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home, a chain of Jewish centers situated throughout India in locations such as Hardwar and Goa, where thousands of post-army Israelis congregate. Although Eliezer and Natti spent a lot of time in India, standing there at the entrance to Anandamayi-ma’s ashram they were as out of place as a klezmer clarinet at a sitar concert.

After a few minutes, the guru noticed the two religious Jews. The next devotee at the head of the line was about to approach the guru, but he stopped him. He gestured to the two attendants who flanked him to block the line. Then the guru beckoned to the two religious Jews to come to him. While the long line of devotees, many of them Europeans, looked on in surprise, Eliezer and Natti directly approached the guru. No bowing, no taking the dust of his feet, no kneeling on the ground. The guru motioned for them to sit beside him on the bench.

Looking directly at the guru, Eliezer asked, “I heard that you’re a Jew. Is it true?”

Eliezer’s question was different than that of the devotees who asked Swami Vijayananda about the purpose of life or the way to higher consciousness. Looking directly at the guru, Eliezer asked, “I heard that you’re a Jew. Is it true?”

The guru smiled. Yes, he had been born into a Hasidic family in France. Although his grandparents were Lubliner Hasidim, his parents were more modern, but still fully observant. He had gone to Heder (Talmud Torah) and had been raised with all the devout trappings of Judaism. In his twenties, he told Eliezer and Natti, he abandoned Jewish observance. He became a doctor. Then the Holocaust descended. He told them about his Holocaust experiences, and about how he gave his tefillin away to a religious fellow because he wasn’t using them anyway.

“Why did you come to India?” Eliezer asked him.

The guru related that, after the war, he was on a ship bound for the nascent State of Israel. A woman on the ship asked him why he was going from one war to another. “Where should I go?” he asked her. She suggested India, a place of peace, with no anti-Semitism.

In India, in 1951, at the age of 36, he met Anandamayi-ma. Already at that time, hundreds of thousands of Indians venerated her not only as an enlightened soul, but as an Incarnation of the Divine Mother. He became her faithful disciple, taking on the monastic name of Swami Vijayananda. After her passing in 1982, many Indians and Westerners gravitated to him as their new guru.

Looking at Eliezer and Natti, he said, “There are two levels of spirituality: a lower level and a higher level. The lower level is religion; the higher level is the recognition that everything is one.”

Eliezer looked back at him and rejoined: “There are two levels of love: a higher level and a lower level. There is love for every person in the world, and there is love for your own wife and family. If you’re not able to love your own family, your love of the whole world is fake.”

“I agree,” nodded the guru.

“So,” continued Eliezer, “You’re Jewish. Before you go out and love the whole world, you should practice loving those who are closest to you, the Jewish People.”

The guru laughed. That started their discussion. As the attendants looked on nervously and the many devotees in the line fidgeted restlessly, the guru and the Hasids sparred back and forth for a long time. “He was trying to show us that we were wrong,” remembers Eliezer, “that religion is not the Truth.”

With neither side conceding to the other, Eliezer suddenly switched gears. He asked, “What did your mother call you when you were a child?”

Tears came to the guru’s eyes, and he murmured, “Avrimka. My name was Avraham Yitzhak. My mother called me Avrimka.”

Eliezer continued to probe: “Do you remember a Shabbos table when you were a child?”

From out of hazy depths 70 years dormant, the guru started to sing A Woman of Valor, from beginning to end with tears streaming from his closed eyes.

The guru closed his eyes. Then, from out of hazy depths 70 years dormant, he started to sing “Eishes Hayil, A Woman of Valor,” the song sung before Kiddush at every Shabbos dinner. With tears streaming from his closed eyes, he sang the entire song, from beginning to end. Electricity filled the air of the ashram courtyard, igniting a charged atmosphere that reached both backward in time and heavenward in intensity.

The two attendants, who had never before seen their guru cry, became afraid. They moved to eject the foreign men, telling them that their time was up. The guru opened his eyes, suddenly back in the present, and waved the attendants away.

Eliezer pulled out of his backpack a Hebrew Bible and presented it to the guru.

With a wistful smile, the guru told him, “I already have one, and I’ll tell you from where.” Relating the story like a Hasidic tale, he told how, in the 1980s, an Israeli with a dilemma came to him here at the ashram. The Israeli had been a soldier in the first Lebanon War. Traumatized by the war and the ceaseless specter of more wars in Israel, the non-observant ex-soldier had decided that he wanted to sever all connection with Israel and with Judaism. He became a Christian, but he was unsatisfied and unsettled. So he came to India and started to practice Hinduism. But here, too, he felt unsatisfied. Coming to Swami Vijayananda, he complained, “Maybe the reason I’m not finding myself in India, and I can’t get rid of this Jewish feeling, is that I still have the Bible they gave me when I was inducted into the Israeli army. Is it proper to throw it away?”

“No,” the guru replied, “don’t throw it away. Give it to me.” He proceeded to tell the ex-soldier the story of Rabbi Akiva, who, as the Romans were flaying him alive, recited the Shema. When his agonized students asked him how he could perform the mitzvah of Shema while being tortured, Rabbi Akiva replied that all his life he had yearned to get to the place of serving God with his very life. “I told him,” related the guru, “Do you know the difference between Rabbi Akiva and us? After all we went through [in the Holocaust and the Lebanon War], we asked, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’” The guru had been relating the story in English, but at this point he quoted the line from Psalm 22 in its original Hebrew. Then he continued in English: “’But Rabbi Akiva,’ I told the Israeli soldier, ‘understood that his suffering was not a punishment, but rather a path to the highest spiritual state of attaining complete unity with God.’“ The guru peered at Eliezer and Natti. “I don’t know where he is now, but I think he must have come back to Judaism after what I told him.”

This was Eliezer’s opening. “Maybe it’s time for you, too, to come back. You’re not young. Do you want to be cremated and your ashes thrown into the Ganges? It’s time for you to come back to Judaism.”

“You’re trying to take our guru away from us,” they accused the Jewish visitors.

At that the attendants got agitated and angry. “You’re trying to take our guru away from us,” they accused the Jewish visitors.

Eliezer made one last try. “God loves every Jew, and wants every Jew to return to Judaism.”

The attendants had heard enough. Furiously, they evicted the two Hasids.

In April, 2010, Swami Vijayananda died at the ashram in Hardwar.

Who Are Your Attendants?

Every Jew has what is called a pintele Yid, a Jewish soul-spark that can never be snuffed out. No matter how far a Jew strays, no matter how vociferously he repudiates his Jewish roots or how diffidently she ignores her Jewish soul or how many decades have elapsed immersed in a different religion, the Jewish spark is always there, ready to be ignited anew.

However, every Jew also is flanked by “attendants” who assiduously work to keep the pintele Yid from being ignited. Sometimes the attendant is fear, sometimes distraction, sometimes egotism, sometimes complacency.

God repeatedly sends messengers into our lives. They come in diverse costumes: sometimes a stranger who utters a portentous, unsettling statement; sometimes a wake-up call in the form of a tragedy or near-tragedy; sometimes a blessing so bountiful it reveals its Source; sometimes an unlikely encounter with a rabbi or a rebbetzin on a plane, or on the street, or in Wal-Mart’s. In a remote town in India in 1968, I met a Jewish doctor from Wales who changed my life. I know a Jew, also a doctor, who lived an utterly un-Jewish life on a Pacific island, and who one day in the mail received an invitation to a medical conference in, of all places, Israel. All such messengers come bearing igniters.

But the attendants, with frightened or sneering visages, wave their arms and try to keep us from heeding the messengers. The attendants utter their shrill warnings: “You don’t have time to go to that class.” “Don’t accept that Shabbat invitation or they’ll try to brainwash you.” “You’re too old/established/comfortable to start changing now.” “Your level of Jewish observance is fine; don’t become a fanatic.” “If you start observing mitzvot, you’ll miss out on all the fun in life.” “They’re trying to take you away.”

It takes courage to banish the attendants, to realize that rather than protecting us, they are driving away the Fedex man who is trying to deliver the tidings of a surprise inheritance.

The Jewish spark, the pintele Yid, in each of us, is waiting to burst into flames of joy, love, and fulfillment.

Related Articles:

About the Author

Sara Yoheved Rigler is the author of God Winked: Tales and Lessons from my Spiritual Adventures, as well as the bestsellers: Holy Woman, Lights from Jerusalem, and Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara(with Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller). She is a popular international lecturer on subjects of Jewish spirituality. She has given lectures and workshops in Israel, England, Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Chile, Canada, and over thirty American cities. A graduate of Brandeis University, after fifteen years of practicing and teaching meditation and Eastern philosophy, she discovered "the world's most hidden religion: Torah Judaism." Since 1985, she has been living as a Torah-observant Jew in the Old City of Jerusalem with her husband and two children. She presents a highly-acclaimed Marriage Workshop for women [seewww.kesherwife.com] as well as a Gratitude Workshop. To invite her to your community, please write to info@sararigler.com.

Visitor Comments: 59

(45)
Karolina,
November 27, 2014 3:51 PM

pintele Yid

This is really nice story...I have to say that this pintele Yid cannot be found only in every born-Jew, also it also the case of converts. You "fight" with it at first privately, then rabbis discourage you but finally you do the step and feel that now you came home :-)

(44)
Zvi Hirsch,
October 29, 2014 10:48 PM

The Story given over by Nati himself at RAJE in Brooklyn

http://youtu.be/KKxh6TrB_YQ

(43)
shirlee rosenthal,
October 26, 2014 3:40 PM

Guru and the Hasid

What a beautiful story. It just goes to show that ever though the Swami had become a Hindu he still remembered his Jewish roots by singing Eishes Hayil he was still a Jew. The Hasids made him remember his Jewish background and hopefully returned to Judaism before he died. Shirlee Rosenthal

(42)
tw,
October 22, 2014 11:46 PM

best

this is one of the author's best pieces...see moon over mexico as well..

(41)
nishant,
October 21, 2014 7:12 PM

A jew is forever a jew

Jews are an eternal people because The One in whom eternity dwells chose them to be His own special people even before He made the world...a jew will always be a jew NO MATTER WHAT....I am a gentile by birth from India and The God of Israel had mercy on me and opened my eyes to see that He alone is God almighty...I am now grafted in the Olive Tree....just as it is written ''I was found by those who did not seek me'' -isiah 65:1 and also ''I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"...ISRAEL IS FOREVER....SHALOM

(40)
Nathan,
October 21, 2014 2:40 PM

Judaism is not about being Jewish

Judaism is about bringing light to the world, when we focus on the external actions, we are no better than any other religion. Trying to extract light from the mundane. The light of Judaism is the light of Love, (as Rabi Akiva said) deep in our core lies the ladder to ascend to the King's palace, and be with him, and like him. No nation has this except for us. Everything else is just a physical psychological system aimed to prevent us from leaving our obligation with our fellow Jew and the Nations. I believe if the Guru would have been given some article of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, or Rav Kook he would have seen better where he fits in the cosmic picture... maybe even he knew already? Who knows? Who am I to judge. I personally feel that Eliezer and Natti where too "religious", and it made me cringe as it reminded me of a couple of door to door missionaries. BUT I was not there... and above all... Gam zu L'tova!!!

(39)
Anonymous,
October 20, 2014 4:24 PM

The Guru and the [two] Chosid[s]

Eliezer & Natti did what they thought was the best. Their intentions were good. I believe that their actions, too, were good. This was their chance to speak with the Guru and they siezed that moment. Kol HaKavod! They wanted to take him home, but mostly in spirit. Home is the " Daled Amos Shel Halocho". It is THE ACTION, the DOING part of Judaism, this part is the MOST IMPORTANT. We can be a good Jew 'at heart'. But we must DO BETTER. We can have a thousand thoughts of, say,putting on Tefillin, putting up a Mezuzah, eating kosher, lighting Shabbat candles, having three Shabbat meals, giving Tzeddaka etc. But unless we actually DO IT it will still just remain a thought. But unless we actually give that poor man a coin or two, he will still remain hungry, etc.In conclusion, I firmly believe, that those words of Eishes Chayil that the guru sang with his eyes closed and with tears streaming down his eyes demonstrates to us his true yearning for the life he had left behind. It demonstrates to us that in that moment in time he longed to return... And I cry for him. I cry for him and for all those dear, poor lost souls who have nobody to say Kaddish for them. But then, maybe those two brave Chassids, Eliezer and Nati DO say Kaddish for him...?Thank you Sara Yocheved for his moving true story.And thank you, Aish.com for bringing it to us.

PS I have read- heard? of a young back-packer who went to India-Tibet? and spoke to a Guru about him wanting to become his follower. To which the Guru replied: You are a Jew. Go back to Israel, for that is where you will find true, spiritual fulfilment. And so he did. Perhaps the guru in the story did likewise? Maybe that was his spiritual mission, to send Jewish 'children home', back home to Israel - where we TRULY belong.

(38)
Anonymous,
October 19, 2014 9:14 PM

it's good

A very good nice article. Her articles always are good!

(37)
Shira,
October 19, 2014 9:03 PM

What if the swami had left the ashram?

I am a religious Jewish woman, and this story disturbs me.

After going through a horrific experience, this man found a way to serve God as he chose. Perhaps God put him there for a reason. Perhaps he was meant to be there so that the Jewish devotees at that ashram would be able to share even a tiny portion of their pintele yid with him. How can we know?

Another thing. What if the swami had left the ashram with the shluhim? He would have given up his place there, which he had won through years of hard work -- and for what? To be a curiosity in some yeshiva somewhere, living in a single room on Chabad's charity? At least at the ashram, he had a position; he had work to do, and he had people who loved and appreciated and admired him.

Who did these two young men think they were, to come and disturb his peace after all those decades? Did they really believe that they could bring him home again, restore everything he had lost?

I feel that what they did was arrogant, and they should have left him alone. What were they afraid of? That the swami's soul would burn in hell for all eternity unless they intervened? Jews don't believe that sort of thing -- and anyway, God is more merciful than that.

Anonymous,
October 20, 2014 12:43 PM

off the derech

if you're a religious jew you probably know this concept of teshuva. Every Jew has an obligation to see that his fellow Jew doesn't turn astray from his Creator. Read the story of Acher in the Gemorah. It will refine your perspective.

Leah,
October 20, 2014 11:45 PM

Kol Yisroel Areivim...

As a religious Jew, you should know that there is a mitzvah in the Torah "hohiach tochiach...." one must admonish a fellow Jew when he/strays and lead him/her in the right direction. To say "it's not my business" is far from acting Jewishly. The only way to serve G-d is on His own terms, and they certainly DO NOT include self-worship. Besides, having grown up in a religious household, this guru was no tinuk shenishbu and should have known better.

No parent would appreciate if one child rebels while his other children shrug their shoulders in indifference. This is not the Jewish way.

Anonymous,
October 23, 2014 8:40 AM

incorrect conclusions

Hi Shira- it is mentioned (and commanded) numerous times in the Torah- Judiasm is life, and there is no life for a Jew without the Torah. A Jew is not permitted to serve G-d in his own way- whether he feels successful and good about it or not- simply because G-d says so! At the same time, G-d gives each of us the opportunity to embrace Him so that we actually do feel successful and spritually connected. Along these lines, no matter which way you look at it, the guru would have been better off becoming a "nobody" while living a Torah life, than getting all the fulfillment and admiration in the world as a guru.

(36)
Evelyn Dow,
October 19, 2014 5:24 PM

I am a convert to judiasm - more thn 40 years ago.

these stories remind me of my own experiences.

(35)
Kim Casper,
August 2, 2012 3:22 AM

God is Love

I believe that he was doing good mitzvah work there in India; he may not have been identifying as a Jew, but he transcended his boundaries which will always bring you closer to God although you are never not close to God, ever.. In order to raise ones own vibration to a purer state which is God's purity; one must let go of the little self and allow the true Self to resonate with the higher frequency of God. This is a way of letting the ego dissolve and becoming infused with what God has always offered every one of us. This can only be done when one does not identify with any limited version of manifestation. One can enjoy being Jewish and can also feel a fondness,support for the peoples of Israel, but to identify as only that is to miss the boat. God is much more than Jewish. Even a wholly Jewish God is more than the sum of its parts. God is love and encompasses the love of the entire Jewish people, and more, always more. This does not take away from the personal nature of focusing on one angle. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi once said if you take a photo with a wide angle lens and include all the people you love; you are still able to focus in on that one you have a special relationship with. Like this, God is all inclusive yet able to focus on whatever one S/he chooses, and being God there is no limitation therefore all love can go personally to every single group or individual. There is no limitation to God. There is always room in God's heart for every child of creation. Full, powerful love. I am positive God is proud of Vijayananda and does not see him as wasted as a Jew but rather one who transcended his boundaries and kept the personal relationship with his Jewishness in his heart, unsullied, pure. Judgement of others keeps one from God realization, it separates, rather than creating unity. We all have our personal preferences of which fruit on the tree of God we eat. But evry fruit is created by God and therefore is in God's name and form. Enjoy, and know God.

(34)
Feigele,
February 14, 2012 6:40 PM

Jews Travel the World for a Reason!

The Guru was sent by G-d to this country to spread the Jewish wisdom and philosophy, even disguised under different attires, and to show that peace could be attained anywhere in this world no matter the human condition.
He didn't leave because maybe in his heart he knew this and could not separate from his duty that was entrusted to him by G-d!

(33)
Kabi,
February 7, 2012 9:49 PM

Swami's roots went deep, drinking from Jacob's well.

(32)
Robin,
February 5, 2012 6:04 PM

Been There, Done That

I was raised Christian, but after the first time I saw a Star of David I never drew another kind. My kindergarten pictures have 6-pointed stars in the sky. I yearned to dress modestly, to eat kosher, and my parents discouraged me. As a married adult, I covered my hair. It just felt right. Then, tracing my family roots, I discovered my mother's mother had been raised Jewish but converted to Christianity. (No wonder she discouraged me . . . ) I kept that to myself. Then much later my married son and his wife came to us and said, "Mom, Dad, we will not be over for Christmas this year. If it isn't in Torah, we will not be doing it." I burst into tears and grabbed them. We have all be observant since then. That light CANNOT be snuffed out.

Pessie,
October 19, 2014 9:12 PM

Robin, we love you

We are so moved by your beautiful story. It is proof that we have a Yiddish neshama that cannot be fooled. We are so happy to have you as our sister. We need you. Without you, our Jewish family is incomplete. May you and your family be blessed with many healthy, joyous, successful years. You may contact us at veryeasyaddress@gmail.com

susan weinberger,
October 20, 2014 12:51 AM

WOW!

what a wonderful story!!!!

(31)
Anonymous,
February 4, 2012 2:18 AM

Enjoyed the story!

I very much enjoyed the story. I look forward to when your book comes out. It is on my list (of books I want to buy) now.

(30)
yakkov Werner,
February 3, 2012 12:09 AM

jewish roots

To the anonymous comment: One basic difference is your born a jew and therefore becoming an observant jew is a natural corollary of that ;as a gentile person your not born into really any religious or spiritual persuation it becomes a choice to convert into anything.The whole existence of the jewish people is the permanente and eternal covenant... so been part of it or coming back to it it's part of the jewish soul.
The devotees r not jews....the guru is. Hashem's expects diff from us than from them. That is the whole purpose of kol ysrael .

rachel,
October 20, 2014 12:26 AM

your outrageous chutzpah

How dare you claim that a gentile is not born into any religious or spiritual persuasion?I am a convert to Judaism. My devout Roman Catholic parents, my devout Muslim favorite law school professor, my lifelong Lutheran friend, my kind non-Jewish neighbor who helped care for my kids when I was ill -- I could go on and on. Yes, Jews have a special role in the world, but others do, too.

(29)
Anonymous,
February 1, 2012 7:10 PM

The swami was not cremated but given a burial

“’But Rabbi Akiva,’ I told the Israeli soldier, ‘understood that his suffering was not a punishment, but rather a path to the highest spiritual state of attaining complete unity with God.’“ The guru peered at Eliezer and Natti. “I don’t know where he is now, but I think he must have come back to Judaism after what I told him.”
As Hasidic tales go maybe his sojourn in India was to influence this Israeli

(28)
Moshe Kempinski,
February 1, 2012 12:37 PM

the spark was became a flame

Swami Vijayananda asked that after his death , he not be cremated but rather buried....as his ancestors were commanded. On his bookshelf copies of the Sefat Emet on Torah remained...now orphaned

m,
February 2, 2012 5:23 PM

Who said he was actually buried?

Curious if this report is verifiable. It was very discouraging to read how entrenched this" pintele Yid" was in the depths of misguidance. Therefore I would assume that Mrs. Rigler would have reported the happy ending if there really was one....

howard,
February 3, 2012 5:14 PM

buried in paris on a monday

here is a quote fro a personal reflection of one of his followers:
I went to his funeral ceremony in Paris on Monday. The
ceremony which so transported us in Kankhal, singing Jay Ma, was beautiful and moving; it
was an extraordinary meeting of Hinduism and Judaism in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
Perfumed incense and sweeties, orange flowers and fruits. Of course, you already know all
the details.
So it seems he was buried after all.
taken from this document: http://www.anandamayi.org/devotees/TributesVijayananda.pdf

(27)
Anonymous,
February 1, 2012 4:29 AM

Who is preaching to whom? AND who succeeded?

The question is how can we as men judge? Only God can. These two Hasidic men "unsuccessfully" tried to convert the Swami back to Judaism. By just one of the stories conveyed here, we can see the Swami was converting people back to Judaism, himself! God himself may have provided the highest respect that such a man would have ever known, so that he could quietly work God's Will for people of all faiths.

(26)
Anonymous,
February 1, 2012 4:06 AM

this article annoyed me

The amazing rabbi who performed my wedding is a convert from Christianity. If his former people came to him to try to convince him to come back, I would be extremely upset. I thought the author had no heart for the devotees who adore their teacher. Following her line of thought, converts to Judaism should go back to where they belong, which clearly is ridiculous because people do not necessarily resonate with the religion into which they were born.

Anonymous,
October 20, 2014 9:31 PM

It's not exactly like that

You do have a point saying you would be upset if your Rabbi were pulled back to Christianity, but we are talking about Yiddishkeit - judaism, which is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. If your Rabbi decided to become Jewish, it is because he FELT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, and nothing should pull him back. Any Jew who does not "resonate" into the religion into which he was born has some loose ends that have to be tied, which means, he or she needs to speak to the right person to put him or her back on track. Maybe something turned him/her off at home, maybe his teacher made fun of him... Maybe he watched a movie that messed up his head. Maybe a friend was a bad influence. There are SO many reasons and there is NO REASON why a Jew should not be a Jew.

(25)
David,
January 31, 2012 9:38 PM

Getting closer

Our attendants come in many disguises - and the greatest and most cunning is that they are us!

(24)
Anonymous,
January 31, 2012 10:03 AM

GRAVITATIONAL PULL...

I'm no rocket scientist but I've heard before a rocket can GO to another planet, it must leave Earth's gravitational pull....
What causes a person to 'wander' from Torah? I ask this not because I believe people go toward, but first they decide/wander away....

(23)
Anonymous,
January 31, 2012 9:57 AM

THE WILL TO SERVE

Although we may never know, I would like to think this Jewish soul was 'reawakened', by the two visitors- but decided to serve and enlighten the community where 'he landed'.

(22)
Daniel Paul K,
January 30, 2012 3:07 PM

I adore Jews and Israel

I feel proud to be an Indian. I live at the southern end of India in Kerala State. In Kerala there is a city known as Cochin. Formerly Cochin was a small kingdom. Its Kings gave land as gift to Jews to construct their houses, their business places and their Synagogue. Every day hundreds of people from allover the world visit Cochin and centuries old Cochin Synagogue . India may be the only country where Jews were never persecuted. Cochin is on the shore of Arabian Sea. It is blessed with a beautiful lake and old historical monuments. One day visit Cochin and enjoy natural beauty of Kerala where forefathers of Jews lived with honor and dignity. .
Daniel.

(21)
Sue boehm,
January 30, 2012 1:31 PM

Listen

G-d speaks to us every day, we need to listen.....

(20)
Devorah Deutsch,
January 30, 2012 9:08 AM

Tear-filled eyes, smiling lips and loving every minute of it!

Once again Sara Yoheved Rigler has taken the written word and used it to transform our complacency into joyous truth. We who have gotten the message and recognized the messengers are so fortunate. May the truth of who we are and the knowledge of our amazing heritage and our love of our Torah continue to lift our spirits and share the amazement with as many as we can. Thanks for your powerful stories.

(19)
Slater,
January 30, 2012 5:53 AM

inexhaustible fountain

What an amazing story. Jews sure get around, don't they? And there is no one like Sara Yocheved Rigler, an inexhaustible fountain of material and wisdom, to bring their stories - complete with the appropriate metaphors and lessons for all - to the attention of the Jewish world! Aish.com and Mrs. Rigler, may you go from strength to strength!

(18)
Anonymous,
January 30, 2012 1:44 AM

very enlightening for one who isn't that knowledgeable

The story seems to be very intriguing. I certainly would like to read it to learn more about the guardians who try to prevent the sparks that those jews are able to emanate to keep their truth and teachings endure

Anonymous,
January 31, 2012 5:26 AM

WONDERFUL

COME TO SFAT FOR MORE DETAILS

(17)
Eljunia,
January 30, 2012 1:31 AM

Jewish at heart

I also many of the articles at aish.com except the conclusion of this article doesn't sound kosher (for lack of a better word). Still Jewish at heart, eventhough he may not have been aware of it, God sent him on a mission in India which he fulfilled until the day he died

(16)
Linda Schatzker,
January 30, 2012 12:06 AM

the 'pintele yid' from the guru and the chasid tale

I've always been aware of the ' pintele yid' inside of me. Despite raising my 3 sons in a traditional Jewish home, One has married a lovely gentile woman an have a new son who is not Jewish and the other two
appear to be going in the same direction. Where is their'pintele yid'?

(15)
Zero_Equals_Infinity,
January 29, 2012 10:52 PM

To Dov Chernok: Was the swami still estranged ....

Was the swami still estranged or were the messengers catalytic? One cannot know the degree to which their visit informed both his interior state, and how the rest of his message and life unfolded. The outer clothes reveal only a small and imperfect aspect of what lies hidden. It may be that the visit accomplished a great deal, and that the swami achieved a form of reconciliation which in ways subtle and gross found their way into his teachings.
We are all students and explorers into the deep and unknowable spaces. What is required is an unadulterated and unquenchable drive to dive deeper and deeper without ulterior motive. It requires a faithful persistence, born of a longing that only grows through the practice of faithful persistence.

(14)
Margarita Stein,
January 29, 2012 10:51 PM

very interesting story

very interesting story and there are many lessons to be learned from it. it would have being of especial interest for me to know what make people searching for reality run away from The Torah - the ultimate reality and ultimate truth. why do they run? children born and grow up in Jewish families, getting proper education, remembering what Shabbat is for them.......why?

(13)
yonah,
January 29, 2012 10:48 PM

a kiruv failure

its clear from the interaction between swami, eliezer & natti that swami regarded returning to the religion of Torah Judaism as a descent from the awareness that G-d is One.
its a great pity that eliezer & natti were unable to articulate how Torah Judaism as a religion is structured to facilitate the awareness --that G-d is One-- the swami was clearly so reluctant to trade for a shabbos table. (perhaps this is because invoking nostalgic connection with the past is a kiruv technique eliezer & natti have come to unwisely rely on with every not yet frum jew ? or perhaps because awareness of G-d ---what Torah Judaism is ideally meant to develop---is often buried under the layers of emphasis on perfecting ritual practice that gets top billing in kiruv and the ffb day school system?)
the prospect of returing to a shabbos table to sing eishes chayil was not the kind of incentive calculated to motivate a man like swami to want to experience Torah Judaism as an adult.
eliezer's and natti's kiruv approach merely brought swami a bittersweet nostalgic moment, and ultimately a lost opportunity

(12)
Isahiah62,
January 29, 2012 9:55 PM

Thanks for the story

I know so many people, myself included, who looked at Eastern religions for something better than Judaism- after reading and studying I concluded "nothing better than he real thing"- back tothe roots- this was a wonderful story - loved it

(11)
Ann Brady,
January 29, 2012 9:07 PM

A Masterpiece

Shalom from Canada dear Mrs. Rigler. Your article has made so many sparks shimmer brightly by its writing. Thank you so much for sharing so lovely - and loving - a story, and for gently drawing out its inherent teachings on the pintele Yid.

(10)
Kaenan,
January 29, 2012 9:05 PM

On my way to India

Hashem always sends messages, the trick is to be open to receive and acknowledge them. I found it ironic that I am sitting on a plane heading to Mumbai, and I decide to check my email and had the privilege to read this article. Yeshar Koach to Aish Rabbis and Rebbetzins world wide who continue to ignite the pintle yid in all they encounter.

(9)
chana@jewishmom.com,
January 29, 2012 8:50 PM

what a great article!

thanks sara, this was such an amazing story. Looking forward to reading your book!

(8)
Grace Fishenfeld,
January 29, 2012 6:48 PM

ONE

and so the Swami has a Jewish soul. How then, if he believes that all are one, why would he have many Gods and images about? Realizing that we are all one is beautiful. Believing that there is one God for all of us is most beautiful.

(7)
John,
January 29, 2012 5:55 PM

very interesting story

I greatly value the spiritual truths in the Aish newsletters.
This story has spoken very clearly to my heart and reminded me of my spiritual awakening.
I spent the time from my early teens to my mid 20's in rebellion. I wanted nothing to do with anything religious.
One evening I stopped and chatted with a man who was a janitor ath the school I attended.
This man relates some thing to me in every day language that had a gread impact on my life.
Sure enough a couple of years later, when my creator touched my being, I remembered this man and the things he told me.
MY life has had a tremendous change for the better through such an encounter, and I sometimes wonder how many such encounters fell on my deaf ears.
Thank you Aish for the spiritual food.

(6)
Avraham Dovid,
January 29, 2012 5:44 PM

Incredible

I also heard that Ram Das is Jewish as well.

Anonymous,
January 29, 2012 10:10 PM

his real name is Richard Alpert, and he was born to a Jewish family in Newton, MA.

rai,
January 29, 2012 10:37 PM

he is

Richard Alpert

Anonymous,
January 30, 2012 12:16 AM

Correct

Yes, indeed, Ram Dass is Richard Alpert. How many of our brightest stars have we lost, not only to Hinduism, but Buddhism and Christianity as well. My soul grieves constantly. Now I witness a close family member, a teenage boy, whose parents and grandparents refuse to give him a Jewish education, and shield him carefully from exposure to Jewish observance. What mad self-hatred has taken root in our people, from Dathan to Paul to Shabatai ben Zvi to the present?

(5)
Anonymous,
January 29, 2012 4:36 PM

Wow!

We never know who is Jewish, so .......

(4)
dov chernok,
January 29, 2012 4:31 PM

For all the humn inyerest in the story the fact is that the swami remainded estranged from Judaism. that his memory was so good only makes his guilt alll the worse.Someone with no knowledge of Torah can indeed be forgiven (tinok sh'nishba).Saying no to a person like the swami is as much a mitzvah as saying yes to a talmid chacham. We survive becaue we cling to every bit of Torah and do ot cultivate poison weeds in our midst.

Andy,
January 30, 2012 12:34 AM

Suggest leave judging to the Almighty.If you had his challenges who knows what would be the result

Dov, You may be correct but it seems to me that chazal would strongly caution you to reserve judgement. The quote attributed to King Mennashe'"If you lived in my time you'd have worshipped idols too" is a stark reality check. The sages say G-d judges us with the degree of stringency with which we judge others.

(3)
M Kapoier,
January 29, 2012 4:10 PM

Fantasyic

I am a 44-year old Rabbi who works with many young Jews, and the place I get the most inspiration is at Aish.com.
What an incredible article and lesson...worthy of the great chassidic and mussar masters of the past.

(2)
Anonymous,
January 29, 2012 12:03 PM

FOOD FOR THE SOUL....

This article was truly 'food for the soul"....I dare say this however, IF the "swami" could bring up and relate moments of his childhood- two things are left unsaid:
1. If his parents had not given him a solid- SOLID Jewish education, what would he have, after all those years away from the Jewish community?
2. He gave the people pieces of what he himself had received in training. Those people he touched, also received portions of the Jewish training he received as a child- He could not help it. It was in there.
My basic point is that we never know where, or with whom our children will interact in this life. Let us make sure their Jewish training is solid and firm so they can Stay Strong....

(1)
shani,
January 29, 2012 10:00 AM

stunning

Thank you mrs. Rigler that was a stunning and touching article. I pray that all of Hashem's lost children find a way to be inspired and reconnect.

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...